Is there an issue with WR Development/Evaluation

#1
V

VawlIn

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#1
I know Webb and Nimrod were likely going to be rotational players at best next year. I also realize Hyatt went from being a backup to a Biletnikoff winner in a year, but his potential and ability was there from his freshman season he just had an issue with drops. With our lack of consistent WR production this year it’s hard to not question whether or not there’s an issue a with either the development or evaluation in the WR room. So far Squirrel has been the only receiver we’ve brought in from HS that has even been a decent contributor and there hasn’t really been significant improvement over the 3 years he’s been here and he still seems to struggle to stay on his feet when he catches the ball. One would think that just by sheer numbers that we could’ve landed more than 1 SEC caliber receiver by now. When we missed on Carnell Tate and then landed Nathan Leacock our fanbase talked about how great we were at evaluating talent since some services ended up having Leacock higher than Tate by the end of the cycle. However with all the injuries we’ve had and the lack of production we had at the position even he wasn’t able to get himself on the field for meaningful reps. They’ve done a decent job in the transfer portal, Bru was an excellent pickup and even though Hyatt was a Biletnikoff winner I think Bru was our go to guy in 22 when we needed to move the sticks. However Donte and Brazzell haven’t really done much against our top SEC opponents. I’ll hang up and listen
 
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#4
#4
It’s just an eternal epidemic of the wideout position, in my opinion. I’ve not seen many that were easy to satiate. There’ve been some unselfish ones (Jennings and Bru) over the years. Then there’ve been some that can’t ever be fed enough. Just dig into the portal and let those birds fly to Kansas, Purdue, or some other lovely football hotbed. Neyland may have been too big of a stage.
 
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#6
#6
UneducatedGuess said:
Kids got no patience these days. And no incentive to have patience.

Worst case scenario, they get paid a little more to come back via NIL
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I think the patience thing is so misleading these kids are getting recruited over year after year and they only have a few years left to play the game they love can’t blame them for transferring to get playing time.
 
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#7
#7
UneducatedGuess said:
Furthermore, I question the character of a kid on any playoff team leaving that team while your team still has work in front of it

That’s quitting. If it’s a bowl game, I get it.

But every player from practice squad to starter matter when you’re still playing.
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They have a timeframe that unfortunately aligns with the playoffs.
 
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#8
#8
Posted this on another thread. I agree with Joe Theismann who I saw in an interview today. A lot of these guys give up on competing when they don’t start or see much playing time and immediately look toward the portal. Instead of fighting for a position, they just bail. That wasn’t an option before but it’s the way it is now and Theismann thinks it hurts teams now in terms of competition for spots.
 
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#9
#9
Orangepantsforever said:
It’s just an eternal epidemic of the wideout position, in my opinion. I’ve not seen many that were easy to satiate. There’ve been some unselfish ones (Jennings and Bru) over the years. Then there’ve been some that can’t ever be fed enough. Just dig into the portal and let those birds fly to Kansas, Purdue, or some other lovely football hotbed. Neyland may have been too big of a stage.
Click to expand...
I agree. Let’s just say most of them have an over abundance of confidence.
 
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#10
#10
VawlIn said:
I know Webb and Nimrod were likely going to be rotational players at best next year. I also realize Hyatt went from being a backup to a Biletnikoff winner in a year, but his potential and ability was there from his freshman season he just had an issue with drops. With our lack of consistent WR production this year it’s hard to not question whether or not there’s an issue a with either the development or evaluation in the WR room. So far Squirrel has been the only receiver we’ve brought in from HS that has even been a decent contributor and there hasn’t really been significant improvement over the 3 years he’s been here and he still seems to struggle to stay on his feet when he catches the ball. One would think that just by sheer numbers that we could’ve landed more than 1 SEC caliber receiver by now. When we missed on Carnell Tate and then landed Nathan Leacock our fanbase talked about how great we were at evaluating talent since some services ended up having Leacock higher than Tate by the end of the cycle. However with all the injuries we’ve had and the lack of production we had at the position even he wasn’t able to get himself on the field for meaningful reps. They’ve done a decent job in the transfer portal, Bru was an excellent pickup and even though Hyatt was a Biletnikoff winner I think Bru was our go to guy in 22 when we needed to move the sticks. However Donte and Brazzell haven’t really done much against our top SEC opponents. I’ll hang up and listen
Click to expand...
Your imagination

 
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#12
#12
Deeretractor said:
Coaches are also probably having end of the year meetings with these guys as well talking about their futures and where they see them fitting in next year and in a lot of ways it is probably mutual on coaches side and players side.
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I’m sure that’s the case, but them having to push 3 guys out in year 5 leaving them only 3 returning guys that have taken a college snap none of which have shown much against championship contenders is a little bit of a problem. Especially with a QB like Nico possibly going into his last season. They’re making a pretty big gamble on Matthews and Staley taking a huge step forward next year
 
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#14
#14
UneducatedGuess said:
Furthermore, I question the character of a kid on any playoff team leaving that team while your team still has work in front of it

That’s quitting. If it’s a bowl game, I get it.

But every player from practice squad to starter matter when you’re still playing.
Click to expand...

You are obviously behind the times and have no idea how the transfer portal works. These kids have no choice but to enter the portal. The timing of the college football calendar makes it so these players have to enter now or risk losing out on a clear opportunity for playing time. None of these guys were in line to get anything more than a few snaps if that..
 
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#15
#15
VawlIn said:
I know Webb and Nimrod were likely going to be rotational players at best next year. I also realize Hyatt went from being a backup to a Biletnikoff winner in a year, but his potential and ability was there from his freshman season he just had an issue with drops. With our lack of consistent WR production this year it’s hard to not question whether or not there’s an issue a with either the development or evaluation in the WR room. So far Squirrel has been the only receiver we’ve brought in from HS that has even been a decent contributor and there hasn’t really been significant improvement over the 3 years he’s been here and he still seems to struggle to stay on his feet when he catches the ball. One would think that just by sheer numbers that we could’ve landed more than 1 SEC caliber receiver by now. When we missed on Carnell Tate and then landed Nathan Leacock our fanbase talked about how great we were at evaluating talent since some services ended up having Leacock higher than Tate by the end of the cycle. However with all the injuries we’ve had and the lack of production we had at the position even he wasn’t able to get himself on the field for meaningful reps. They’ve done a decent job in the transfer portal, Bru was an excellent pickup and even though Hyatt was a Biletnikoff winner I think Bru was our go to guy in 22 when we needed to move the sticks. However Donte and Brazzell haven’t really done much against our top SEC opponents. I’ll hang up and listen
Click to expand...
Brazzell is going to be the real deal. Mike Matthews is going to be a stud, imo.
 
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#16
#16
VawlIn said:
I’m sure that’s the case, but them having to push 3 guys out in year 5 leaving them only 3 returning guys that have taken a college snap none of which have shown much against championship contenders is a little bit of a problem. Especially with a QB like Nico possibly going into his last season. They’re making a pretty big gamble on Matthews and Staley taking a huge step forward next year
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Nico is not going anywhere unless he has an unbeatable yr next season. So we have Squirrel, Brazzell, and Matthews as top three with Davis @ tight end. We probably bring in two more from the portal .
 
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#17
#17
I think the "lack of development" was moreso a result of a lesser dependence on the passing game. Alot of that had to do with natural growing pains from starting a RS Freshman at QB and some of it had to do with having a very effective running game. That and I think defenses adjusted scheme wise to limit the big plays in Heupel's offense.

I expect next year to be a much more productive year in our passing game. Nico should not only take a step up in his development, but with Sampson likely leaving for the NFL, we will probably need to depend on getting more from the passing game. I also think Mike Matthews will blossom once he is given some targets.
 
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#18
#18
vol94 said:
Nico is not going anywhere unless he has an unbeatable yr next season. So we have Squirrel, Brazzell, and Matthews as top three with Davis @ tight end. We probably bring in two more from the portal .
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If he continues to improve like he has since halftime of the Bama game I don’t see how he doesn’t declare next year. If he throws for over 3k yards and 30 TDs next year (more than reasonable) he’ll get a top 10 draft grade and will be gone
 
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#19
#19
vavolfan6 said:
I think the "lack of development" was moreso a result of a lesser dependence on the passing game. Alot of that had to do with natural growing pains from starting a RS Freshman at QB and some of it had to do with having a very effective running game. That and I think defenses adjusted scheme wise to limit the big plays in Heupel's offense.

I expect next year to be a much more productive year in our passing game. Nico should not only take a step up in his development, but with Sampson likely leaving for the NFL, we will probably need to depend on getting more from the passing game. I also think Mike Matthews will blossom once he is given some targets.
Click to expand...
I just wouldn’t have envisioned a passing game as mediocre as ours was this season after what it was the first 2 years. The fact our two best receivers from that mediocre passing game will be leaving and 3 of our backups were apparently pushed out or didn’t have a chance to get significant playing time with what we’re losing seems more like our WR room just isn’t very good. I’m a big MM fan, but he’s caught 7 passes for 90 yards and they’ve all been against mediocre teams. The other 4 of the top 5 receivers have made significantly bigger impacts this year. There’s just a lot of things that point towards a lack of development in that room in my opinion. The best receivers we’ve had every year were coached by someone other than Kelsey Pope at one point. He’s yet to evaluate, recruit, and develop a guy into anything close to an NFL caliber receiver
 
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